Luis Severino concluded his first big-league appearance in 707 days by forcing Willie Calhoun to fly out to shallow left to finish off a 7-1 win for the Yanks.
By that ninth inning on Tuesday night, the rain had made the field slick enough that Gio Urshela slipped and fell in the outfield when he tried to slow himself to give way for Brett Gardner, who came in front left field to secure that final out.
They were hardly the ideal conditions for a pitcher coming back from Tommy John surgery, a groin strain and then shoulder tightness, but Severino didn’t care about the elements. He just wanted to be on the rubber at Yankee Stadium again, where he hadn’t been in a game setting since the 2019 ALCS.
“Doesn’t matter if there was freaking thunder there,” Severino said. “I was gonna go out there and try to pitch. It doesn’t matter what was happening out there. I was going to go out there and try to win this game.”
The former Yankee ace dealt with multiple setbacks in his rehab from Tommy John, and received a loud ovation when he came in from the bullpen to finish off the last two innings of a 7-1 Yankee victory in the Bronx.
“It was a lot,” Severino said. “First thing, the fans chanting my name, that was special for me. Just getting on the mound again, for the real thing, that was fun. It was really special.”
It was also a moment Severino had envisioned since July, when it became closer to his expected return from surgery. Setbacks delayed that by nearly three months, but finally, he was back on the mound where he blossomed into an All-Star and Cy Young Award candidate.
“[I though about it] like 100 times,” Severino said of his return. “I’ve been close now like three times. You can think about it, but it’s nothing like getting there and seeing how it’s gonna be for yourself. It was really fun.”
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Two scoreless innings helped make it even more fun, as he finished with two strikeouts while allowing two hits and no walks, throwing a total of 30 pitches.
“I felt pretty good,” Severino said. “I wasn’t worried about my command…everything, slider, fastball changeup command was really good.”
Severino’s role on Tuesday night will likely be what is asked of him for the rest of the season, as New York desperately tries to secure a playoff berth with a bullpen that has been taxed due to injuries and far too many one or two-run games. Severino is grateful to finally be back, but now the focus is on getting the Yanks back to October.
“I know the bullpen’s had a lot of innings, so I think someone like me of [Domingo] German could be huge in that bullpen right now,” Severino said.
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